While selling your home it’s best to enjoy the holidays away from home especially if the holiday is religious in nature.  Why?  We don’t really know who’s going to purchase your home or their religious preference so keeping the decorations out of sight will help you appeal to everyone.  The best part about this tip is you can get away on a short vacation or enjoy your aunt Betty’s apple pie.

When I entered this once empty elegant living room I found the fireplace and it’s amazing mantel very imposing.  What I mean is….as beautiful as the majestic fireplace was, it was overwhelming the space partly because of it’s size.  The best way to downplay a wonderful feature like this without losing it’s importance is to add a little drama.

From the foyer you can see the measurable size of the mantel

In a nearby tree I found the exact amount of drama I was looking for.  Why drama you ask?  By adding some worthy drama I downplayed the size of this magnificent fireplace but didn’t take away it’s relevance.  Now buyers can take in the windows, custom cabinets and molding, hardwoods and last but never least the chandelier too!

A little drama can sometimes go a long way

And now the ‘big picture’…….

The end result was a living room that displayed all of it's beauty!!!

Presto, a buyer can now love it all.

HomeGain Survey:  Home Staging Top Priority for Sellers

HomeGain recently conducted it’s third Nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer survey to reveal the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people getting their home ready for sale.  Nearly 1,000 Realtors responded to the survey.

To read more just go to the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/yeaxzct

Happy Halloween Everyone!  And this is not a Halloween spoof it’s TRUE, some realtors are plenty scared these days.  At least from what I hear and see in the field!  The other day I met with a broker and what I heard and noticed was well, daunting and interesting to say the least.

Meeting with this broker was my second occasion but quite honestly, he didn’t remember me – Oh well, I’ll have to work on that..ugg!  Anyway, what I noticed when I laid eyes on him this time almost made me stutter.  

Three years ago he was well put together with a trendy fresh haircut, snazzy cloths, and a sparkle in his eye.  I was very impressed by him and his energy screamed ‘leader’.  What I saw the other day was more like a man who you know is clearly handsome but, someone had put him in a punching bag and beat him up a number of times.  He was visually worn, exhausted and almost frail.  It was so sad to see him this way.

During our meeting my goal was to help him.  I was asking for an opportunity to speak at one of his realtor sales meetings.  I had a FREE home staging service to offer sellers with vacant homes.  After all, in this market sellers need all the help they can get and FREE is exactly what they want.  What he said to me was nothing short of daunting.  Here’s how it went…..

Broker: (not a quote but a summary)  Well Lise, although I appreciate the service you offer and know it well, I’ve made a decision to stop all vendors from coming to our meetings until our spring season.  You see my realtors are just tired of being sold.  (I’m thinking, I’m not selling anything to your realtors, I never do!)  I can’t even get them to the meetings these days.  This is partly because they’re feeling pressured by vendors who are asking them to ask their clients for money or worse, asking them for money for services and this is turning them off, shutting them down.  In fact, the agents in my organization who were once top producers for many years and I mean the ones who have been around this business for a very long time, are not adjusting well.  Right now, I’m focused on getting them to transition from traditional selling strategies to more Internet savvy professionals. (Well that made plenty of sense to me, realtors must get on board.)  It took me three years in my last office to get the agents to adjust, I just don’t have that kind of time.  Next year is right around the corner and I need to work on that.  I just can’t risk my realtors feeling sold!

End of meeting pretty much!

I could see clearly by the energy in the room it was pointless for me to continue.  The fear was as thick as a foggy night in London and as spooky as a haunted house.

Having said that, I want you to know this broker and his reputation are both very good. I know for a fact, he is a very good leader who’s enjoyed a great deal of success with many awards and achievements.  But really, if his realtors aren’t making money then I would think helping them do so would be the first priority when it comes to retention. What is the point of teaching them to adjust to the new world market if they can’t put food on the table in the meantime with services that help them sell their listings? FREE is FREE and quite honestly, I’m not saying FREE just to the realtor (all my services are) this service is FREE to the seller.  Here’s what I know about selling a vacant home….

1.  A seller with a vacant home is the most vulnerable as buyers especially today, are looking for distressed properties.  The assumption all buyers make when viewing a vacant home is ‘This seller must be desperate!  He surely has another house to live in and is likely paying two debts.’  100% of the time a buyer especially now, will low-ball the seller.  Never do they offer to pay the true value of a vacant home. 

2.  In a market such as this I consider it a reatlors fuduciary responsibility to present all marketing options to their clients, particularily those that are cost effective and I believe FREE is.  If these are the toughest times any of us have seen in our industry then realtors should gather every bit of information available and make it their job to advise their client.  It’s the sellers responsibility to determine what’s right for them. After all, it’s the seller who has the most skin in the game.

3.  When times get tough the tough get going.  Here’s the thing, I’ve been training and managing sales forces for years and what is always clear is tough times is a good time to let those who really can’t cut the mustard go.  The ones who want to change, grow and learn from the adversity and will make the transition.  We’ve all read ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’, haven’t we?  Shielding sales people as though they are weak will only keep the dead weight around.  By the way, there’s nothing worse then unmotivated or uncooperative people in a sales environment.  They can effect an entire group – like wildfire!

4.  This is not the time to hold back.  Getting aggressive now is the only way we’ll get through this mess.  Marketing real estate with purpose and getting it sold is the only way for us to recover.  Doing all we can like introducing FREE services or anything of value to a seller can only help, never hurt.

5.  Realtors should never pitch a home stager’s services.  That’s right, and I don’t expect them too.  In fact, would a realtor send a mortgage broker into a listing presenting to present the realtors value proposition?  I doubt it.  The realtor only needs to understand what the FREE home staging service is about.  It would be easy for them to refer their seller to the home stager who is the most qualified person to explain the value.  So, I wasn’t asking the broker to let me sell the idea to his realtors.  I want to sell the service to the seller.  By the way, here are the sellers financial advantages with this FREE service.

1.  Sellers get a FREE staging service therefore, saving thousands of $$$ in staging fees.  NICE!

2.  The utilities are paid for through the service offering therefore, helping the seller save that expense.  Also, the home will be maintained at a comfortable temperature for buyers to linger in.  All too often sellers of vacant homes think they’re doing themselves a favor by saving on utility bills. Read this blog to learn more why that never works.  http://www.homestagingatlanta.net/sellers-save-money-turning-down-thermostats-i-say-not/

3.  Vacant homes are vulnerable to theft.  The insurance industry agrees.  When a seller no longer has a vacant home he saves on insurance premiums, not to mention the anguish of a home invasion.  Have you ever had anything stolen?  It’s absolutely terrible.  The loss of property makes you feel violated which is bad enough.  The time it takes to replace the items and the expense of deductables and increased insurance premiums make this experience a tragedy.  

4.  Staged properties sell in half the time according to USA Today.  In my experience, even faster.  The last mid priced home I staged sold in 60 days.  The home before that was in a higher priced neighborhood that had not seen a sold property in more then 18 months, it sold in 4.5 months.  How about them apples!!!

5.  A staged home allows the buyer’s impression to be elevated.  Let’s face it, where is the emotional value in an empty space?  There’s none whatsoever.  Since a buyers assumptions and impressions are so heavily involved when it comes to an offer to purchase a home, let’s not give them any reason to low-ball a seller.  Do the math, what do you think a seller can gain from being offered this FREE staging service?  

Clearly, FEAR is the worst emotion for any professional or seller to feel while trying to sell a home. This emotion will get you nowhere fast and worse, it will only prolong the misery.  All real estate professionals need to be creative and think outside the box. Whether that means learning more Internet skills to get up to speed with our new global economy (which I strongly recommend) or learning about every possible marketing strategy that will help to make dollars and sense.

Attitude is EVERYTHING if you plan to manifest success!

Final Comments:

Some of you may think I’ve taken this opportunity to vent.  That’s not the case. Rather, I saw an opportunity in an adverse situation to share some truth about the times we live in.  If I had a dollar for every realtor I know who is not only adjusting to the times but is seeing success in this market, I’d be a very rich woman.  These realtors are making it happen and making it happen for my home staging business as well.  I only wanted to share this experience to help those who are working in fear. There is nothing to fear but fear itself.  Change is good, even the changes were faced with now.  What you feel about change is what will make the difference.  I sincerely hope we all change when needed for the better.

Hope this helps! 

Sincerely,

Lise Desormeaux

Founder | RMR Real Estate Marketing Results, Inc.

I want to ask you a question.  At first you may not like the question but it is an important one.  First let me say that there are two types of sellers, the first is someone who wants to sell their home and the other is someone who needs to sell their home.

The difference between wanting or needing to sell your home are miles and thousands of dollars and effort apart.  A person needing to sell their home will exert more effort toward the outcome then someone only wanting to.  Keep in mind if your someone who only wants to sell your home your competition may need to sell and guess who will ultimately secure the serious buyer who viewed both homes?

The question is, which one are you?  If you’re the seller who only wants to sell their home you’re probably not going to take seriously the advise this DVD (Book) offers however, if you’re the seller who needs to sell your home I suggest you get a note pad and pen out or your highlighter and let’s get started.

First selling your home is serious business.  The sale of real estate is a serious business and financial ‘transaction’ with very serious consequences.

Here is something for you to consider.  You once had to complete a financial balance sheet for your mortgage company or bank when you purchased your home.  There is something very interesting about your balance sheet.  Have you every noticed that your car, a depreciating asset is part of your balance sheet too.  Your home is an appreciating asset on the very same balance sheet.  What I find most interesting is people who are putting their car up for sale will spend 200 or sometimes 300 hundred dollars or more getting it shampooed, waxed, buffed, an engine cleaned, oiled, serviced and otherwise dolled up to prepare this depreciating asset for sale.  What is also apparent to me is so few people view their home the same way.  Often no investment is made getting it ready for market.  Whether you hire a staging company or you do it yourself with this DVD (Book) I suggest you take the same approach when selling your home as you do your car if you expect to sell it for top value.  Your net worth will thank you for it.

A sellers emotions are the number One Home Sale Killer

By now we’ve all heard that stress is the number one killer.  A sellers emotional attachment to their home is equally the number one reason the sale of the home is killed before the first showing.

I believe a possible reason people don’t view their homes as a product in need of merchandising or even the same way as a car for sale is a home has so much more emotional value attached to it.  After all, we have enjoyed many happy memories in our homes, raised our children, painted the dining room with our oldest daughter, and remember those back yard BBQ’s and Christmas’s with family and let’s not forget the day we brought the youngest of our children home from the hospital.  If you really consider what I’m saying you’ll understand that we have so many emotional experiences in our home that for some of us it’s difficult to separate ourselves from this amazing home.  This is why I want to help you understand from this day forward that a real estate transaction is a business transaction and now is the time to separate yourself for your home by taking your emotions out of the process.  If you don’t you will not have a successful outcome but if you do you will not only have a rewarding outcome, you’ll also get to enjoy it much sooner then you think.

Think about this for a moment.  If you bought and sold five homes in your lifetime (most Americans do) and you prepared each home before you went to market and received 25K more for each home, you would gross an additional 125K.  You’d net somewhere around 100K.  Not bad for just being a home owner uh? 

That brings me to a very important part of this dialog.  Staging does not cost you anything in the end.  Like it or not that’s the truth.  Personally I like it a lot.  There are numerous studies and survey’s featured in the DVD (Book) that indicate clearly the return on investment is for the most part yours for the taking provided you use common sense and did your homework when making the investment of staging your home for sale.  I can’t say the same for the automobile transaction as a blue book always determines it’s value and a homes value is determined by what a buyer is willing to pay it.  What a buyer pays for your home is determined by perceived value.  That’s the beauty of real estate. Hopefully now your convinced your making an effort worth it’s weight in gold.

Expect to spend at least 1 to 3 percent of your list price to totally prepare and stage your home for sale.  The surveys presented here indicate a return of investment of up to 340%.  Even if you had to borrow the investment isn’t it worth it?

Have you ever notice the buying experience a shopping mall provides consumers? Let’s take the gallery of a mall lined with storefronts who’s window dressing is the invitation to take a closer look. Each store competes with the other to lure the shopper into the store to get better acquainted with each department. If the shopper is convinced by the window dressing to take a walk inside they will see more of the same window dressing at the front of each department with mannequins dressed in the best the department has to offer. Of course the retailer is hoping that all of this marketing is enough to cause the register to ring and the consumer is happy to accommodate provided the retailer has done their job.

The exterior of your home or the curb appeal is the window dressing from the street just as the gallery of a mall is to the retailer. If your curb appeal is more appealing then your competition you’ll find a home buyer in your home before long. Once in your home your rooms are the departments in a store and they need to be attractive if you expect the buyer to linger and ponder over the purchase of your home. The more attractive you make each room the more likely you are to hear the cash register ring.

Retailers have understood the power of marketing for decades and today home staging is impacting our real estate world in a way unlike ever before. For the first time a niche industry is coming on strong to bring an otherwise outdated marketing concept in the real estate transaction up to date to meet consumer demands. This is especially good news for home sellers who while in need of selling their home are in more need of securing a price sold that will benefit their bottom line in the least amount of valuable time.

Who needs home staging? These days every seller does especially if you consider the return on investment. Recent surveys indicate that even in a poor economy home staging is still providing a 150 to 191 percent return on investment according to HomeGain.com.

I believe there are three basic types of sellers and each one can benefit from home staging in their own way.

3 Types of Sellers:

1. A Home Seller who lives in their property.
   These sellers need help de-cluttering and de-personalizing their home.  Most of us have way too much stuff purchased over the years.   A lot of this information can be found on the web as almost every home stager only deals with this type of seller.
2. A Home Renovator.
   Most renovators do their work based on one of two determinations: what’s in their pocketbook or what ‘they’ think a buyer would like.  In either case they do themselves a great injustice when applying this thought process. Renovators should seek professional advice but almost always don’t because the cost may be out of their budget or they believe the products they will use are good enough.  Renovating with products and finishes buyer trends indicate are desirable will save money in the long run with less time on the market. You also save the cost of ripping something out to replace it with the right materials after buyer views of the home indicate they don’t like what they see.
3. A seller who is transferred out of town or a builder of new construction selling vacant homes.
   These sellers are the most vulnerable as vacant spaces evoke vacant emotions.  Since a home purchase is mostly based on emotion, you can see what a challenge this must be.  Empty spaces do not tell a buyer how to use the space as 90% of buyers can not visual the room.  Beautiful furnishings that describe the functionality of each room will create the emotional appeal necessary to put ink to paper with an offer every seller will be pleased with.

Each of these three types of sellers can benefit from home staging. If you want a higher return on your home investment and you desire your home to sell fast, you need to find a professional home staging service and employ their help for your return on investment.